Bayley C and Tim S attended the North of England Under 16 Tennis last Saturday, held at Ampleforth College, representing NSB for the first time in the tournament.
Drawn in a tough first group, the boys won each of their doubles matches comfortably, playing some great tennis to beat pairs from Bradford Grammar, Manchester Grammar, Bolton School and Woodhouse Grove and win their group by two points. Moving through to the cup groups and the opposition got a lot tougher, forcing the boys to step up a gear.
They continued their good form however, overcoming teams from Barnard Castle by a combined 12 games to 1, and beating the host school Ampleforth’s second ranked pair 6-3 to move into the semi-finals. The highlight of the round undoubtedly being Tim’s excellent ‘hot-dog’, a through the legs shot when facing the back of the court.
Facing the highly-regarded Ampleforth A pair, Bayley and Tim played their best tennis yet to win convincingly 6-3 and move through to play the highest ranked pair in the tournament, from Woodhouse Grove. Serving cleanly and volleying expertly at the net, the pair pushed their opponents all the way with some aggressive tennis before eventually succumbing to their first defeat in nine games, finishing as runners-up.